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GATES, PANSIES AND BUNNIES are unmistakable signs of tlie season at Atlantic Nursery. For more on Atlantic's salute to "The Gates" see page 9.
Failing sclioois? Tliat depends..
by Laura Schofer
"There is no political will to equitably fund schools," said Dr Eric Eversley, Superintendent of Freeport Schools, in an interview with The Leader last week.
He folds his hands and leans forward to make a point.
"Just look at the two decade long struggle in Albany to fund New York City Schools. Unfortunately the CFE [Campaign for Fiscal Equity] decision doesn't affect other schools [outside of New York City]. The state should exam­ine inadequate funding for local school districts."
Would more equitable funding help Freeport schools achieve higher academ­ic standards?
"The more diverse your population, the greater the need for specialized serv­ices," said Dr. Eversley.
"The state doesn't fund to accommo­date for language deficits and special services. The federal and state [govern­ments] do not fully fund students with special needs. It's not unusual for bi-lin-gual funding to be given very late and that makes our work harder. We want to do advance planning and there is always this annual uncertainty. But none of this is a secret," he said.
Earlier this month, John W. Dodd Middle School and Freeport High School were placed on the accountability hst by the State Education Department. This
means that this schools have fallen below state academic standards. At Dodd Middle School, 42 percent of the stu­dents scored either 3 or 4 on the Enghsh Language Arts (ELA) exam, down from 45 percent the previous year.
The state listed Freeport High School as a "school requiring academic progress" in the areas of ELA and math; 68 percent recorded a passing grade of 65 or better on the English Regents and 84 percent passed Math A and 64 percent Math B.
But Robert-Wayne Harris, assistant superintendent for curriculum, school improvement, professional planning and development said that "Student achieve­ment is going up and will continue to go up."
The numbers are up. At Dodd Middle School 51 percent of the students scored 3 or 4 on the math exam, up from 43.5 in 2003-2004.
At Freeport High School the recorded number of students passing the English Regents increased by 8 points from last year and on both the Math A and B exam scores increased by 30 points from 2002-2003.
But the numbers do not take into
account the challenges faced by the
school district including the number of
new enroUees the schools receive each
year. At Dodd 140 new students entered
school sometime during the 2003-2004
school year. To date 105 new students (continued on page 23)
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Freeport school board - page 2
• ialdwfn sdiool budset eensfdered - page 5
• freepofi Filde i@ ima-i^e m% Feaee'' - page 11

This digital image may be freely used for educational uses, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this image is permitted without written permission of the Freeport Memorial Library, 144 W. Merrick Road, Freeport, NY 11520 or email: frreference@freeportlibrary.info

This digital image may be freely used for educational uses, as long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this image is permitted without written permission of the Freeport Memorial Library, 144 W. Merrick Road, Freeport, NY 11520 or email: frreference@freeportlibrary.info

text

•t \^
. s^v^^^^"
GATES, PANSIES AND BUNNIES are unmistakable signs of tlie season at Atlantic Nursery. For more on Atlantic's salute to "The Gates" see page 9.
Failing sclioois? Tliat depends..
by Laura Schofer
"There is no political will to equitably fund schools," said Dr Eric Eversley, Superintendent of Freeport Schools, in an interview with The Leader last week.
He folds his hands and leans forward to make a point.
"Just look at the two decade long struggle in Albany to fund New York City Schools. Unfortunately the CFE [Campaign for Fiscal Equity] decision doesn't affect other schools [outside of New York City]. The state should exam­ine inadequate funding for local school districts."
Would more equitable funding help Freeport schools achieve higher academ­ic standards?
"The more diverse your population, the greater the need for specialized serv­ices," said Dr. Eversley.
"The state doesn't fund to accommo­date for language deficits and special services. The federal and state [govern­ments] do not fully fund students with special needs. It's not unusual for bi-lin-gual funding to be given very late and that makes our work harder. We want to do advance planning and there is always this annual uncertainty. But none of this is a secret," he said.
Earlier this month, John W. Dodd Middle School and Freeport High School were placed on the accountability hst by the State Education Department. This
means that this schools have fallen below state academic standards. At Dodd Middle School, 42 percent of the stu­dents scored either 3 or 4 on the Enghsh Language Arts (ELA) exam, down from 45 percent the previous year.
The state listed Freeport High School as a "school requiring academic progress" in the areas of ELA and math; 68 percent recorded a passing grade of 65 or better on the English Regents and 84 percent passed Math A and 64 percent Math B.
But Robert-Wayne Harris, assistant superintendent for curriculum, school improvement, professional planning and development said that "Student achieve­ment is going up and will continue to go up."
The numbers are up. At Dodd Middle School 51 percent of the students scored 3 or 4 on the math exam, up from 43.5 in 2003-2004.
At Freeport High School the recorded number of students passing the English Regents increased by 8 points from last year and on both the Math A and B exam scores increased by 30 points from 2002-2003.
But the numbers do not take into
account the challenges faced by the
school district including the number of
new enroUees the schools receive each
year. At Dodd 140 new students entered
school sometime during the 2003-2004
school year. To date 105 new students (continued on page 23)
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Freeport school board - page 2
• ialdwfn sdiool budset eensfdered - page 5
• freepofi Filde i@ ima-i^e m% Feaee'' - page 11